VIOLENCE AND PASSION IN OTHELLO’S PERSONALITY

 

In Act 5, scene 2 Shakespeare stages a femicide: the murder of Desdemona by Othello. In the scene Othello is torn between two drives,  the instincts of Eros and Thanatos.

OTHELLO, FREUD AND FEMICIDE

 

 

The murder scene from Act V of Othello contains an act of femicide: Othello kills his wife Desdemona, whom he accuses of being unfaithful. Othello acts under two basic instincts or impulses, called Eros (sexual instinct) and Thanatos (aggressive instinct). According to psychiatrist Sigmund Freud, human beings share these natural instincts with animals but the difference is that humans can (or at least should) control them, letting their “ego” prevail and suppress those instincts. Actually, it’s our subconscious to be exposed to these impulses, but there’s still our ego whose job is to try to calm them down.

CHAOS ON THE RUNWAY

 

It is March 27, 1977. PanAm flight 1736 is on its way to Gran Canaria, Spain, from Los Angeles. There are 380 passengers and 16 crew members and the plane is a Boeing 747, the first ever to enter service. The captain of the flight is Victor Grubbs.

Ahead of flight 1736 there is KLM flight 4805 flying from Amsterdam to Gran Canaria. There are 235 people on board. The captain is Jacob van Zanten.

FAREWELL, GREAT CHAMPION

DAVIDE ASTORI

The world of football, not only Italian football, is still shocked and mourning a young champion and a great  human being.  On 4th March 2018 Davide Astori, 31,  suddenly and unexpectedly died in his sleep in a hotel in Udine, the day before the match Udinese vs Fiorentina. His death was caused by a cardiac arrest  as  determined by an autopsy conducted two days later. Both Serie A and Serie B matches scheduled for the 4th  March were postponed.

UEFA announced on ‘Twitter’ that a minute of silence had to be observed before every European match scheduled for that week. His death was a real shock for his mates, his friends and, of course his family.  His ex team-mate Carlos Sanchez collapsed to the ground after hearing the news of his death. In honour to Davide Astori both Cagliari and Fiorentina  retired number 13 which was Astori’s.

CHAPECOENSE: CHAMPIONS IN HEAVEN

On the night of November 28, 2016 a plane with 81 people aboard,  the charter airline Boliviana Lamia, heading for the airport of Medellin, crashed in Cerro Gordo, 57 km from the Colombian capital. Aboard also the Chapecoense Brazilian team,  Santa Catarina state, which flew to the final of the South American Cup (the equivalent of the Europa League) against Atletico Nacional. For Chapecoense is the first end of the story.